Walking
by birchermuesli
Summary: Lily discovers a little something about herself - more precisely, her slightly muddled feelings about a certain hazel-eyed boy - during a Transfiguration class one time in Sixth Year.


_**Walking**_

by birchermuesli

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**Title: **Walking  
**Author: **birchermuesli  
**Rating: **K+  
**Genre: **Romance/Humour  
**Disclaimer**: _Walking_is a fanfiction based upon characters and situations owned or created by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and other publishers. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

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At precisely fourteen minutes past nine, Lily Evans rushed through the door to her Sixth Year Transfiguration class. With only one minute to spare, Lily's almost-tardiness naturally placed her in a considerably unsettled state.

Or rather, this was what she tried to convince herself of whilst making her way through the rows of tables towards the empty seat at the back of the classroom. What Lily Evans certainly did _not_ pay attention to during said walk was the tall black-haired boy seated in the third row, smiling cockily while relating what was undoubtedly bound to be an incredibly unamusing anecdote to his three other male friends.

This boy's eyes flickered towards Lily as he registered her presence. Lily clenched her jaw and kept her gaze locked stubbornly ahead. The boy continued to stare at her pointedly, raising his eyebrows at her blatant disregard of him, but still Lily Evans did nothing but stride purposefully past him until she had reached the empty seat next to fellow Gryffindor Emmeline Vance. Cheeks burning, she sat herself down hastily and began to take out a quill and several sheets of parchment from her bag.

She was not flustered. Not flustered in the slightest.

Emmeline's lips twitched amusedly as she observed her friend engage in the same pre-class ritual of Ignoring James Potter, which had become an all-too-familiar occurrence over the past couple of weeks.

"Morning, Lily," she said emphatically to the girl who, having emptied out the contents of her bag, had now taken to busying herself with glaring resolutely at the right wall of the classroom – namely, in the exact opposite direction of James Potter.

"Good morning," was Lily's curt reply.

"Why so flustered?"

"I hate being late."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"James is looking at you."

Lily's head snapped towards her. "No, he's not," she bit in a tone that was decidedly ferocious, then went back to resolutely glaring at the right wall.

Emmeline snorted, and probably would have come up with another sarcastic remark had McGonagall not walked in at that moment to commence the class. Lily thanked the distraction and focused in on the theory at hand, momentarily pushing away nagging thoughts of annoying tall hazel-eyed boys whom she did not, and would not, ever harbour lustful feelings towards.

Lily Evans was not, strictly speaking, on unfriendly terms with James Potter. The two had actually come to interact with each other quite amicably over the past few months. Mostly they were able to keep up an interesting conversation, complete with witty quips and clever remarks.

However, because of what everyone else was saying, Lily Evans had to continue to remind herself that the boy was _not _funny, _not _charming, and certainly _not _attractive in the slightest. This became an especially necessary thing to do when McGonagall had paired them up to work on their next Transfiguration assignment together, which led to the unfortunate result of Lily having to spend a great deal more time alone with James. He wasn't entirely terrible to work with, she conceded to herself grudgingly, but only because of his sharp-mindedness, and it was nice to work with somebody whose intelligence was on par with hers for a change. Lily Evans, of course, did not actually enjoy spending time with the boy _himself_.

So she ignored the odd twist in her stomach when class ended at that hour, and James Potter swivelled around in his chair to lock her eyes with his. "Oi, Lil," he said with a lazy grin, while everybody else packed up their belongings and left the classroom. "Transfiguration assignment – test run, now."

Lily stood up from her chair, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Fine," she said tersely, making her way to the door.

James smiled. "You're not going to wait for me?"

"No."

"So where are you going?" he called out, hopping up from his chair. He easily managed to catch up with her in a few large strides. Stupid tall boys.

"You're smart," she replied dismissively. "You'll figure it out."

James didn't miss a beat. "Library?"

Lily felt herself quickly relaxing into the everyday banter that seemed to come so easily between her and James. "Well done, Potter," she said drily. "You've just successfully managed to name the single most obvious place to study in Hogwarts."

"While I do very much enjoy your flirtatious antics," he said, "and trust me, I do – we can't study in the library."

"And why's that?" she asked sardonically.

"Much too crowded at this time of day," he replied. "Ratty Third and Fourth Years would make it impossible to focus. Plus, we need room for the Transfiguration test run – can't do that with a dozen other people all crammed up on the same table."

Damn. The boy _did _have a point.

Lily stopped mid-step, crinkling her nose in annoyance. "Fine. Where do you propose we go, then?"

James smirked and looked at her knowingly. "Told you that you should've waited for me in the first place."

"Maybe next time, Potter. I'm going to have a delightful time twiddling my thumbs while you painstakingly observe your reflection in a mirror for the fiftieth time."

"Hey! Since when do I ever check my reflection in a mirror?" he argued, seemingly outraged.

Lily decided not to answer this question to preserve some dignity for the boy. Instead, she pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "Just find us a place to work, Potter."

So James took to the task of navigating, and when he placed his hand on the small of Lily's back to lead her through the crowded corridor, she simply stumbled along and decided not to shake him off. What with his stubbornness, she probably wouldn't have been able to, anyway.

However, after several moments Lily had begun to severely dislike the tingling sensations on her back that his hand was eliciting, and the possibility that she was perhaps enjoying the moment _too _much. She decided to break the silence. "Where are we going?" she said tightly.

James seemed oblivious to her discomfort, calm and unaffected as ever. "You'll see," he replied in a confident tone.

"Where are we–"

"_You'll see, _I said."

"Why can't you just say wh–"

"Calm _down_, Princess," James interrupted, rolling his eyes. He pushed her a little further by her back. "Just walk."

Patronising bastard.

She huffed in annoyance. But because she was lost for words with his use of the endearing term (though she would never herself admit to such a thing), Lily Evans shut up for once, and walked.

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**Hope you enjoyed. Just a little something I cooked up then, because I'd realised I hadn't written in a couple of years and, well, I kind of miss Lily and James. :) Feedback would be lovely, and perhaps I'll see you sometime soon!**

**Much love,**

**birchermuesli**


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